HACKETTSTOWN — If you're a NBA fan from New Jersey who always roots for the home team, then you’ve likely either defected to the New York Knicks by now, or given up on professional basketball altogether.

It’s a decision that thousands faced in the off-season when the once New Jersey Nets packed their things and left for Brooklyn, leaving a gap for professional basketball fans in New Jersey — a gap that Marsha Blount is hoping to fill.

Blount is the owner of The Jersey Express, an official member of the American Basketball Association (ABA) since 2005. The team recently declared Centenary College its home court for the 2012-2013 season.

Blount said she’s “extremely excited” to play at the college, but hopes that her team will one day fill the vacancy created by the Nets, and call the Prudential Center home.

That’s why she’s initiated a campaign to move the team there, a campaign that she says relies on the support of the local community and businesses. She hopes local businesses will join up with the team for sponsoring and marketing.

To play a single season at the Prudential Center in Newark would cost $750,000, according to the team’s website. Blount hopes to negotiate the rates with the venue to bring that number down.

Blount saw the Nets departure from New Jersey as an opportunity for her team and its players — “Because we actually want to be here,” she said. “The Nets the past couple of years were really just renting space.”

Blount, who lives in Denville and has owned the team for eight years, has seen coaches come and go and the game evolve. She’s watched up-and-coming players take their game overseas in far-off places like Japan.

Shaheen Holloway, who played with the team in 2002-2003, is now an assistant coach at his alma mater, Seton Hall University. Marcus Toney-El played overseas in Japan before become an assistant coach at Farleigh Dickenson University.

Conversely, former big-name NBA players, like Darryl Dawkins, who coached The Jersey Express in 2005, sometimes return to the ABA to be a part of the game even after they’ve stopped playing it themselves.

The league looks to the Retired Players Association for former players searching for opportunities.“We have quite a bit of ties to former NBA players,” Blount said.

No players have made the leap from The Jersey Express to the NBA yet, but the league’s 2010-2011 MVP Kayode Ayeni made it as far as tryouts with The New York Knicks before spending some time in the development league and then playing ball overseas.

Still, Blount says that the ABA is its own entity with its own rules. For example, the league has a “3-D rule,” which grants an extra point to players who score off of a turnover in the back court. As Blount pointed out, players get “rewarded for playing good defense” — a dig at the often-criticized defense of NBA players.

The ABA is known as a Historic League. Players use a red, white and blue ball made famous by the likes of Julius ‘Dr. J’ Irving, George ‘Ice’ Gervin, Connie Hawkins, Dan Issel, Artis Gilmore and David Thompson.

Blount said the group picks up hidden talent, mostly from around New Jersey. The team also holds open tryouts.

“Everyone is not going into the NBA, and I offer that alternative and opportunity for players to hone their skills,” she said.

The team values its role in the community, and players are required to interact with fans, take pictures sign autographs, Blount said. “We want to be a part of the Sussex County North Warren community.”

In a tough economy, Blount said the ABA provides an affordable alternative to fans and families. “Families can come out as a unit and see a game and not break bank." Tickets for a single game Jersey Express game are $10.

The team’s coach, Joseph Amador, who was previously an assistant coach at Centenary College, will be returning for the third season with The Jersey Express.

The team will have it’s first ever television broadcast on Dec. 8, distributed through Time Warner and Comcast.

Blount said the team has a goal of selling 500 season tickets.

“I think after this successful season, I absolutely believe that our future is the Prudential Center.”

The Jersey Express will be playing a 26-game season this year with 13 games to be played at home on the campus of Centenary College. Season ticket are available for $97.50 for the 13-game season while general admission tickets will cost $10 a game.

For more information on The Jersey Express, or to order tickets, visit their website at www.jerseyexpress.net.